Stephen Lang Expresses Interest in Playing X-Men’s Cable

While roaming the halls of the New York Comic-Con I was given the opportunity to speak with Stephen Lang, the actor best known for playing Col. Miles Quaritch in James Cameron’s Avatar.

Lang and I discussed many things – his role in the Conanreboot, Quaritch’s possible return in Avatar prequels/sequels – but knowing how our Screen Rant audience rolls I also made sure to slip in a question about Lang possibly bringing the character of Cable to life in a future X-Men franchise installment.

For those who don’t know, Cable is a popular mutant freedom fighter/soldier in the X-Men universe. He started as a gun for hire in the late ’80s New Mutants comic book and went on to become the leader of Rob Liefeld’s X-Force in the 90s before his mythology was expanded. Cable was revealed to be the time-traveling son of Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor (a Jean Grey clone), who was infected with a techno virus by the mutant despot Apocalypse, the same villain Cable is at war with in his future reality. There is no telling whether a big screen version of Cable would encompass all the time travel mania or simply be a gun for hire again, but rest assured, fans want to see the character onscreen.

I was trying to stir the pot more than anything else – after all, Lang certainly has the look and temperament for Cable, and after Avatar and Steven Spielberg’s upcoming time travel TV show Terra Nova, Lang’s relationship with Fox (which owns the X-Men franchise) looks to be pretty strong. Who better to play Cable, then?

To my surprise, Lang not only knew who Cable was – he’s already formed opinion about playing him. Comic book fans hold on to your hats:

“One of boys mentioned to me – he says, ‘Hey pops, they’re talking about you for Cable,’ and I said ‘Who would that be?’ and so he Googled him for me and I saw him and I thought ‘Oh wow, he’s cool.’

When asked directly if he’d be interested in the role:

“Yes, I’m there. [Laughter] Sure, why not. I’d be happy to. You read it all, everything that comes across. And if it makes sense, if it’s a cool character, if it’s a theme you want to explore…sure.”

Now this is in no way to be taken as any kind of sign or confirmation. Lang has not been approached to play Cable, nor are there any confirmed plans to have the mutant mercenary grace the screen at this point. Still, it’s nice to know that the man fans are nominating is at least interested in the character, no?

Check back later for more on our talk with Stephen Lang. Until then, talk freely about the prospects of Lang playing Cable.